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Eddie Jones has picked the 'strongest' England squad possible, with multiple injury problems, to attempt to defend the Six Nations title and unprecedented 3rd straight tournament victory (never having been achieved before).
Eight uncapped players make the cut, and there are 898 caps shared between the remaining 28 players selected.
The stand-out selection has to be Lewis Boyce, called up for the first time to replace Joe Marler (after the fellow Harlequins prop received a 6 week ban). The 21-year-old has broken through into the Aviva Premiership main-stage this year after leaving Yorkshire Carnegie for Harlequins at the end of last season. Personally, I'm not happy nor sad about his inclusion - there are certainly other props that could have been selected, but it's good to see that Eddie Jones is looking for the future talent and not just the present (especially with the talented Australian-born coach extending his contract with England yesterday).
Gary Graham of Newcastle Falcons is still included, despite being Scottish and not the strongest selection at 7 possible - my big controversy of the 35-man squad. In fairness, however, there is a big injury crisis facing Eddie Jones in the back-row and Graham will unlikely play much in the Six Nations with 12 players losing out on matchdays.
Alec Hepburn receives his first call-up into the England squad, and I think it's a great move. Not only is Hepburn playing great, but Exeter Chiefs counterpart Harry Williams and the Exeter scrum is too; Hepburn starting at 1 and Williams starting at 3 would be a combination I would love to see Eddie Jones implement. Unfortunately, the inclusion of other Exeter Chiefs players does not go beyond Williams, Hepburn, Slade, Nowell and Sam Simmonds - with Don Armand (qualifying through the residency rule) and Olly Woodburn not being selected. I can understand not selected Armand and giving the England youth a chance to shine on the international stage, but for Olly Woodburn not to be included is outlandish - it would be like Wales not involving Josh Adams. If Ireland (or Scotland) do indeed pip England to the title, I think Eddie Jones will resent not involving undoubtedly one of the world's best finishers on the wing in Olly Woodburn.
Nathan Earle and Harry Mallinder are also named, with both of them travelling on the tour to Argentina but not receiving caps. I'm excited about their inclusion, although it's fairly obvious that Nathan Earle is injury cover for Watson, Solomona, May and Nowell and most likely won't feature. Mallinder has impressed this season mostly at Fly-Half, and knocking Ford/Farrell/Lozowski/Smith out of that position would not happen, and Mike Brown and Watson are hugely preferred Full-Backs so he also won't be featuring this year.
Gloucester's promising young scrum-half, Ben Vellacott, who has been putting in impressive performances week-in-week-out for club, has missed out on selection after rumours stating he has chosen to represent England opposed to home nation Scotland. It had been widely thought that Danny Care wouldn't make the cut, and Vellacott would have been a surprise inclusion.
Here is the full, 35-man, squad;
Backs:
Mike Brown (Harlequins), Nathan Earle (Saracens) *, Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints) *, Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Marcus Smith (Harlequins) * **, Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Forwards:
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) *, Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) *, Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby), Lewis Boyce (Harlequins) *, Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby) *, Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs) *, Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
*= uncapped, **= 'apprentice' players